Obsidian Plugin Settings

This skill guides you through building and persisting plugin settings in Obsidian. It covers both the modern declarative API (Obsidian 1.13.0+) and the legacy imperative display() API, because both remain valid and you will encounter existing plugins using the older pattern.

When to Use This Skill

• Adding a settings tab to a new or existing plugin
• Choosing the right input control for a configuration option
• Persisting and loading plugin data with loadData() and saveData()
• Migrating an imperative settings tab to the declarative API
• Validating user input, grouping settings, or showing/hiding fields conditionally
• Handling settings that change at runtime (dynamic settings)
• Ensuring settings work well on mobile

Overview

An Obsidian plugin's settings consist of three layers: